An Anaheim Ducks blog, from the perspective of a hockey fan armed with a camera

In praise of Bobby Ryan

"The biggest thing is just his poise and his hands are unbelievable. I played with [Evgeni] Malkin and [Sidney] Crosby, and those guys are probably the two best in the league. Bobby's hands are right with those guys... He's a superstar in the making, it seems."
---Ryan Whitney, former Ducks defenseman

Sunday, January 11, 2009

My work hours are very hockey-unfriendly. Meaning, I'm usually not able to watch the games as they happen because I work primarily evenings. The typical scenario is me, sitting at work, trying to answer phones and contribute to work flow while quietly listening to the AM radio on the internet. I set my VCR to record my games at home, ghetto-style, on a VHS tape, and I watch after I get off shift.

Pretty fabulous, isn't it?

Sometimes I don't even bother to try to listen to the games at work. There are way too many interruptions, and I'm not able to concentrate on either work nor the game. Tonight, I'm going to attempt to write this blog post while listening at work. Yes, I'm really that crazy.

Hopefully our Ducks give me a game worth all of this juggling!

There was some question as to what would happen to the lineups what with Corey Perry returning after his four-game suspension. Looks like he'll be on the first line with Ryan Getzlaf and Chris Kunitz. That means Bobby Ryan will probably be pushed back to the second line with Andrew Ebbett and Brendan Morrison. J.S. Giguere starts in net.

As the game starts off, I'm annoyed by way too many stupid questions over our work phones. *sigh* I miss the first goal by the Devils, but that's fine. (Although watching later, I see that it was quite a doozy, bouncing off of a Devils' helmet before landing into the goal net). And then a beauty of a goal by my Bobby Ryan, with an assist from Morrison. Well, I'm guessing it's beautiful, cuz I don't have a visual, but there's plenty of cheering on the radio, and fans chanting "Bobby! Bobby!"

Heck, that's all the proof I need. After all, we already know this kid is capable of some unbelievable shots.

Okay, now we're getting slammed at work and I'm going to have to do the rest of this entry after watching my tape. I guess there's a reason why I've never attempted to do this before!

The rest of this review is based off my dowdy VHS tape. Watching the game is so much better than just hearing it anyway. And oh man, Bobby's goal was indeed beautiful. Even before this goal and the out-of-this-world hat trick, Bobby showed lots of potential. He plays with such passion and drive, you just want to see the boy do well, ya know? And he gives you plenty of speed and agility to be proud of. I'm glad he's finally getting his chance, even though it took Selanne's injury to get him some decent ice time.

See, I got plenty of reasons to love Bobby =)

Our Ducks get to the first intermission with the lead, thanks to a marvelous chip shot by Sammy Pahlsson. Good start, guys, keep it up!

Not a lot of goals scored in the second period, but a worthy attempt by Getzlaf right against the goal crease. The Ducks' defense is definitely stepped up on this game, you can tell by the large number of ineffective shot setups by the Devils. I was hoping our boys could keep that up... until the Devils stuff another goal into the net beyond Giguere during a rare Devils power play.

That goal seemed to wake everyone up, and now we're battling. It's 2-2 going into the final period.

Quickly into it, a wrap-around shot by Kunitz that had to be reviewed on the overhead tape before it could be deemed a goal. Ducks take the lead, 3-2. I gotta give props to Giguere for pulling it together for this game. He had a number of beautiful saves, including a point-blank shot at short range. Keep up the good work, Giggy!

As much as I enjoyed having Bobby on that front line with Getz and Kunitz, I think the boys made it fairly clear that the Getzlaf-Kunitz-Perry line is a force to be reckoned with. Extending their lead to 4-2, Kunitz landed a simply elegant shot with assists from Getzlaf and Perry.

With no more than 30 seconds on the clock, the Devils manage to stuff the puck, along with six or seven hockey players, into Giguere's goal. Still, their effort fell short, Ducks FINALLY won this, 4 to 3.

Posted by
Chris (aka Ducks54)

1 comments:

I love your writing style. I found myself a bit bored when you "reported" on the game. I guess, I already know the score and followed the game on TV or radio. It's yesterday's news. But I couldn't get enough when you focused on the experience, told me something that I couldn't have seen, felt, or known by watching the game.

Acknowledgments

Photos in the headers and sidebar appear courtesy of zimbio.com. Photos within the text of the blog are ones that I have taken myself unless otherwise cited. Please do not reproduce them without my permission, thanks! --Ducks54